Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police and aid were called at 7 o’clock this morning to a stabbing at the Chehalis Avenue Apartments.

The victim, in her mid-20s, was conscious and alert, and taken to the hospital, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

Chehalis Police Department spokesperson Linda Bailey said officers are investigating and she didn’t have many details yet.

“I know they brought the K-9 out,” Bailey said. “It didn’t seem as though it was a life threatening injury.”

The apartments are on the 300 block of Southwest Third Street.

Russell S. Foster is brought into Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon to see a judge.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Prosecutors today requested a $5,000 unsecured bond for the Chehalis woman whose property was searched yesterday morning following a visit by a SWAT team and an ongoing drug investigation.

Fifty-one-year-old Mary K. West, also known as Mary K. Craig, was charged today in Lewis County Superior Court with one count of possession of methamphetamine.

Police reported finding a pipe with residue and three ziplock baggies with an unspecified amount of meth in her bedroom, according to charging documents.

Mary K. West

Russell S. Foster, 46, who resides in a detached garage on the property on Southwest 10th Street was arrested as well and charged today with three counts of delivery of methamphetamine.

The Lewis County Regional SWAT Team and the Joint Narcotics Task Force yesterday morning served a search warrant and turned up items in Foster’s dwelling such as digital scales, numerous empty small baggies and what prosecutors described in charging documents as a receipt book with notations such as “T-shirt” and “Half T-shirt” which detectives say refer to “teeners” or 1.5 grams of meth.

They also seized a plastic bag containing approximately two “teeners,” according to the documents.

Foster allegedly sold meth to a confidential police informant back in early 2014 and then twice more sometime during the month that ended yesterday, according to the documents.

Chehalis Police Department Chief Glenn Schaffer said in a written statement yesterday the residence has been “an issue” for police and for its neighbors.

While yesterday’s news release reported the home was on the 100 block of Southwest 10th Street, it actually is on the next block east of that, in between South Market Boulevard and McFadden Street.

Foster and West were booked into the Lewis County Jail. At least one other person present was arrested on an outstanding warrant. The court documents relate Foster has a girlfriend who resided with him, but no mention has been made of the woman being arrested.

Police yesterday reported a stolen generator turned up during the search, from a December burglary on Jackson Highway.

West, who works part time at Burgerville, qualified for a court appointed lawyer. Her arraignment was scheduled for Feb. 11.

Police yesterday booked West for endangerment with controlled substance and subsequently added a potential charge of maintaining a dwelling for drug purposes, but those criminal charges were not filed today by the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

Foster, who is unemployed and has prior criminal history about a decade old, was ordered held on $20,000 bail. Prosecutors had asked for $50,000. He is unemployed and likewise was given a court-appointed lawyer.

His arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

Joel L. Kaech looks toward lawyers during his hearing in Lewis County Superior Court this afternoon.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lewis County prosecutors held off on filing any criminal charges today against the Salkum man arrested yesterday for the alleged kidnapping and rape of a 32-year-old Longview woman.

Joel L. Kaech, 25, will be held with no bail at the Lewis County Jail at least until tomorrow when the state should be in a better position to make an informed decision, according to authorities.

The alleged incident came to the attention of police, who made contact with the alleged victim around 8:25 p.m. on Saturday at the Goodwill store in Centralia after she reportedly ran away from Kaech at the skate park across Harrison Avenue.

She told law enforcement officers Kaech earlier had picked up her and a mutual friend in Longview, but kicked the friend out of the car and said, “Now you are my hostage,” according to court papers filed today.

The alleged victim told of being driven to the Spiffy’s parking lot on U.S. Highway 12 and raped and then to Kaech’s home in Salkum where he would take a shower and pick up some clothing, telling his mother not to let her leave, according to the declaration of probable cause.

The document offers other details including the following:

The alleged victim told a sheriff’s deputy Kaech drove them to a state park where he wanted to pick up some hidden stolen items – which he allegedly wanted to sell to get money to buy drugs, but they were not found – and to a church parking lot to sleep. She reported she awoke to Kaech  breaking in to the building and he threatened he would kill her if she didn’t help.

She told the deputy he then drove to a secluded place off U.S. Highway 12 where he allegedly pulled her by the hair into the back seat and once again raped her. Then they traveled to the skate park in Centralia. She also said she was threatened with a metal pipe.

When found sleeping in his car on Stowell Road in Salkum yesterday and questioned, Kaech denied knowing the alleged victim.

In Lewis County Superior Court today, Kaech talked back to the judge, and was told he would be held in contempt for 30 days, and then 30 more days when he did it again.

Lewis County Prosecutor Sheila Weirth had asked for bail to be set at $500,000, but Judge James Lawler made it a no-bail hold after the first outburst.

His temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke said afterwards, Kaech hadn’t known the details of the accusations being leveled against him until he got into the courtroom this afternoon.

“He was frustrated, as you can imagine,” O’Rourke said. “He didn’t have an opportunity to read though the probable cause statement until he got to court.”

Deputies saw a metal pipe in his car and applied for a search warrant to look for evidence in the vehicle, according to the court papers. The documents also relate that the alleged victim was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia for evidence collection.

Prosecutors asked for and were granted the opportunity to keep Kaech in jail and bring him before a judge again tomorrow afternoon.
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For background, read “News brief: Kidnapping investigation leads to Salkum resident” from Monday February 1, 2016, here